Last week, long-time Sesame Street fans flew into a viral online outrage when the news came that Steve Whitmire, the voice of Kermit the Frog (and Rizzo the Rat, Beaker and other Muppets characters) for the last 27 years, had been fired by Disney and would be replaced.

Fuelling the fire, in an interview with The New York Times earlier this week, Whitmire said he was told he was being let go because “they were uncomfortable with the way I had handled giving notes to one of the top creative executives on the series. Nobody was yelling and screaming or using inappropriate language or typing in capitals. It was strictly that I was sending detailed notes. I don’t feel that I was, in any way, disrespectful by doing that.”

Whitmire felt he was particularly lobbied against during the recent Muppets TV series on ABC, and claimed that his firing was a complete surprise. In another chat with The Hollywood Reporter, he said, “We have been doing these characters for a long, long time and we know them better than anybody. I thought I was aiding to keep it on track, and I think a big reason why the show was canceled [after one season last fall] was because that didn’t happen. I am not saying my notes would have saved it, but I think had they listened more to all of the performers, it would have made a really big difference.”

Now, Brian Henson, the Chairman of the Jim Henson Company and son of Jim, has come forward to THR and said he actually wishes he’d fired Whitmire sooner, before the Muppets was sold to Disney: “I have to say, in hindsight, I feel pretty guilty that I burdened Disney by not having recast Kermit at that point [the sale to Disney] because I knew that it was going to be a real problem. And I have always offered that if they wanted to recast Kermit, I was all for it, and I would absolutely help. I am very glad we have done this now. I think the character is better served to remove this destructive energy around it.”

Henson claimed it should be no surprise to Whitmire why he was fired, as his behaviour on set was “appalling” while he made “outrageous demands and often played brinkmanship.” Henson added, “Steve would use ‘I am now Kermit and if you want the Muppets, you better make me happy because the Muppets are Kermit.’ And that is really not OK.” For the last decade, Henson said, Whitmire made the Muppets crew visibly uncomfortable and unhappy, despite his claims of shock at the firing.

Longtime Muppets talent Matt Vogel is set to be the new voice of Kermit, and Henson believes he will offer the beloved character new life after Whitmire “flattened out.”

“There was a lot of complexities to Kermit that have been kind of falling away, and I do believe Matt Vogel can access that energy really well. And Matt is a very good performer,” Henson said. “And I believe that in protecting Kermit going forward, Matt will do a really wonderful job. I think the fans should not be so scared of change.”